Teach Yourself Swahili Complete Course Package (Book + 2 CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) [Paperback]

Joan Russell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071414487 | ISBN-13: 978-0071414487 | Publication Date: April 8, 2003 | Edition: 2

Bestselling language courses now with audio CDs!

From Danish to Spanish, Swahili to Brazilian Portuguese, the languages of the world are brought within the reach of any beginning student. Learners can use the Teach Yourself Language Courses at their own pace or as a supplement to formal courses. These complete courses are based on the very latest learning methods and designed to be enjoyable and user-friendly.

Prepared by experts in the language, each course begins with the basics and gradually promotes the student to a level of smooth and confident communication, including:

• Up-to-date, graded interactive dialogues
• Graded units of culture notes, grammar, and exercises
• Step-by-step guide to pronunciation
• Practical vocabulary
• Regular and irregular verb tables
• Plenty of practice exercises and answers
• Bilingual glossary

The new editions also feature:

• Clear, uncluttered, and user-friendly layout
• Self-assessment quizzes to test progress
• Website suggestions to take language study further

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joan Russell

has worked in Kenya and Tanzania, and taught Swahili for many years at the university level.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 2 edition (April 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071414487
• ISBN-13: 978-0071414487
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #474,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ninaweza kusema Kiswahili!, April 2, 2004

By 

B. Yankiver (Boston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teach Yourself Swahili Complete Course Package (Book + 2 CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)

I learned Nepali with the help of the Teach Yourself series, and I liked the book so much that, after I left my copy in Kathmandu, I bought a new one here in the states. Now I'm working on Swahili with the Teach Yourself Swahili book and CD.

The book is really nice. It's laid out in a pretty good way. Each chapter has a topic (eg. "How are you?" and "invitations"). Within each chapter you will find:
+Intro Dialogue
+Vocab used in the dialogue
+Word usage explanations (which gets into the relevant culture)
+Grammar explanations
+More dialogues with vocab lists and explanations
+Finally, a nice variety of practice exercises

The pronunciation guide is pretty good (and the CD makes up for its limitations). There are lots of pictures, which help me to have something visual with which to associate words and phrases. The S-E/E-S dictionaries are not massive, but cover all the words in the book (I think, I didn't check them all). Also, there is a nice section at the end that has a bunch of useful phrases for the traveler that, even if it's not the Lonely Planet Swahili, covers the important basics. There are also some handy grammar appendixes.

The CD is very well recorded. The readers are native speakers. Each dialogue and a few questions and answers is a one track. I wish that they would repeat some of the dialogues slowly, because the syllables seem to fly by when you are still new to the language.

Overall, great series and great book & CD!

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for review, December 20, 2003

By 

"tsloanee" (APO, AE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teach Yourself Swahili Complete Course Package (Book + 2 CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)

I have studied swahili for over two years and this course was a lot of help recently. It is the perfect tool for someone who is looking to review or brush up on their skills. It might move too fast for someone who lacks any previous experience in a Bantu languge.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All The Basics, October 10, 2005

By 

Patricia Borden (Sonora, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teach Yourself Swahili Complete Course Package (Book + 2 CDs) (TY: Complete Courses) (Paperback)

This book and CDs teach all the basics you need to start conversing in Swahili. Excellent for the first time traveller to east Africa.